Germany and Austria face a growing skills squeeze in the automotive sector: company-reported apprenticeship offers fell sharply last year even as EU and national pilots try to reskill thousands of at-risk workers. That gap matters to drivers (fewer trained technicians for EVs and second-life batteries), dealers (longer workshop queues) and suppliers (production risk if core trades go unfilled).

Numbers: where the gap shows up

The Federal Employment Agency reports that between October 2025 and September 2026 a total of 469,000 vocational training places were registered with employment agencies and Jobcenters — 453,000 of them company-based, a fall of 31,000 versus the prior year. By 30 September 2026 there were still 48,000 unfilled apprenticeship posts and only 179,000 people had started training in the year (12,000 fewer than the previous year). These figures point to a tighter pipeline of new skilled workers for workshops and factories.

Unions and training bodies put the decline into sharper focus: IG Metall’s apprenticeship report finds companies in core industrial occupations signed 25,800 apprenticeship contracts in 2025 — 9.1% fewer year-on-year — and notes that the industry has cut around one-fifth of such contracts since 2019. IG Metall warns the drop is concentrated in metal, electrical and vehicle supplier trades. “Companies are once again undercutting an already low level of apprenticeship training,” says IG Metall executive Hans-Jürgen Urban.

How industry and government are reacting

Brussels and national agencies are not standing still. In July 2026 the European Commission launched six pilot projects under the European Skills Guarantee to help automotive workers at risk of job loss; the call includes a joint Germany–Austria project (Transition Bridge – Industrial Automotive Cluster) that aims to test personalised job-to-job pathways and reskilling for the sector. The Commission set aside €14.5 million for the pilots, targeting almost 1,000 workers across the projects.

At national level, Austria’s research and funding agency FFG ran a Mobility Transition call in 2026 to support cooperative R&D projects and workforce-relevant measures (submission period 27.05.2026–30.09.2026; decisions expected December 2026), while Germany’s Berufsbildungsbericht 2026 highlights the economic slowdown’s negative effect on training offers and urges closer public–private cooperation to stabilise vocational intake.

Employers in Austria show that filling the gap is achievable: Siemens Mobility Austria welcomed 73 apprentices on 1 September 2026 and reports a near‑100% long‑term take‑up rate for trainees — an example of how large employers can sustain pipelines if they commit to training and hires.

What this means for the market

The shortfall in training will feed through as higher service wait times, higher wage pressure for scarce technicians, and slower ramp-ups for battery and EV production lines if firms can’t source mechatronics, battery-assembly and high-voltage specialists. The EU pilots and national calls can blunt the blow, but the scale is small: the Commission’s pilots target roughly 1,000 workers, while hundreds of thousands of roles will need reskilling or replacement over the next five years. Without a fast expansion of employer-led apprenticeships and more targeted public funding, Germany and Austria risk rising costs for vehicle servicing and slower deployment of electrification projects — outcomes that matter to drivers, dealers and suppliers alike.

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Sources: Bundesagentur für Arbeit, IG Metall, European Commission, FFG, Bundesregierung, Siemens Mobility Austria